yeahgradschool!

Oh man! Has anyone else NOT heard from Syracuse? My final letter of rec was sent on Jan. 5th. I realize they have rolling admissions but I'm still a bit nervous now. Congrats to those who got in already! I hate this waiting...

congrats on the acceptance! when did you have everything submitted?

Everyone pretty much done with their apps? My final deadline was January 15th and my third recommender got her letter in on the 14th, whew! It was a bit anticlimactic. Not sure what to do with myself now! Anyone have any issues with the process or did all go smoothly? I wonder when we'll start hearing.. I'm ready to know now!!!

I would also love some more info about the class profile and how current students feel about it. I was more worried about the small class size than the age (though I, too, would rather join a more experienced class). I don't know what it is, but I'm just a little wary of Duke. It doesn't seem to be too highly praised around here. compost, did you end up applying?

<br /><br /><br /> I don't like coffee either!! I feel awkward telling people I don't drink it. I have only ever had it once; it was one of those free iced coffee days at dunkin donuts so I figured if I was going to try it, it might as well be free! I got some super flavored one and put tons of sugar in it. I got about halfway through before I had to toss it. Then I had the shakes all day! It was an awful feeling. Never again!!

This has been a fun thread to read! I'll add a few things to the list. I had an extreme phobia of socks when I was young. I refused to wear them, to touch them, to have anything to do with them. Even today, if I have to wear socks, I will only wear specific kinds. Fortunately, I've been living in a tropical country for the past year and a half and didn't even bother bringing any with me when I moved. Just writing this is making me a little queasy. I have never vomited. Ever. (And yes, I sometimes drink heavily.) I used to be so fascinated with time travel that I decided to major in Mathematical Physics. Throughout my first two years of undergrad, I continued to tell myself that someday soon they would start teaching us about time travel. It never happened. I eventually switched majors my Junior year. I killed four scorpions in my bedroom last week alone. I made a rainwater catchment system for myself this past year because I had a skin allergy to the water in my community (living in a third-world country at the moment ha). I LOVE MUSICALS! Listening to the Glee soundtrack right now. Maybe that's not so unique, but thought I'd put it out there anyway.

Hey Noasf! I'm also applying to USC. My last letter of recommendation just came in last night, whew! I completely restated a few of the things I used in my personal statement. I didn't even have enough space to talk about faculty I'd be interested in working with so I left it out. I mean, how much can they really expect to get out of us in 200 words?! I honestly think they will be basing the funding decisions on the quality of our entire application and that this was just a formality. But I could be completely wrong! We'll see!! Good luck!

Have you already submitted all of your apps? If not, I would strongly suggest you try and reach out to a former professor for one of your recs. Were the bank colleagues at least all supervisors of yours? Do you think they have substantially varying things to comment on about your work? I agree with Ahab; The banking experience is a definite strength. I worked for Morgan Stanley for 2 1/2 years and though I didn't focus on it in my personal statement, I made it clear that I was a more well-rounded candidate because of my time spent there (i.e. because of the quant skills you mentioned above). Focus on the passion you speak of but don't downplay your work over the past 4 years. That work will be the reason they accept you, not the reason they reject you. You just need to figure out how to tie it all together. Good luck! P.S. Have you thought about applying to Johns Hopkins? They would drool over your quant background!

compost&recycle, congrats on the early admission to Fletcher, how exciting!!

mssyAK, I saw your post on the other thread and it looks like you're applying to schools in cities across the board! where are you hoping to end up? Like Nimesis, I have only applied to 5 schools (with a possible final addition to make it 6) and feel like I might be kicking myself for it in the end. We'll see soon enough I guess!

Thanks!! I wondered because Duke says their deadline is Jan. 5 by 5pm EST. Fortunately, I just received a response from her saying she'd have it in by tonight or early tomorrow at the latest so hopefully I won't be counting down the minutes to midnight tomorrow.

Happy to see some action around here! My first deadline (USC!) is coming up tomorrow. Question: Does a December 15th deadline mean before 5pm or before midnight? I ask because one of my recommenders has yet to submit her letter (though she ensures me she will have it in on time, sigh). I finished all of my applications in plenty of time and it’s so frustrating to just have to hold my breath on this and hope it turns out okay. I just sent her an email offering to write up a draft letter today ha! I’m hoping she has already written it and is just delaying on submitting it to ensure that it makes me shine so brightly that the adcomm will have no other choice but to accept me!

We're totally hogging this post. I'm going to PM you. But where are the other applicants at?!

It depends on how many people are applying to each program! The admittance rate could possibly be higher for the MPP if less people are applying. Though I'm not sure if they have a set number they take every year since I just saw the stats for last year's class. The total for the MPP was 125 for 2010 which would mean there were 64 in the previous class (transfers/dropouts could be messing that number up a bit). But I wouldn't even worry about it! I saw your stats, they were great. I submitted my app a few days ago. Just waiting on one of my recommenders! Sooo tired of stressing over this stuff. Let it be March already!

MPP - I'm interested in education reform (for now, ha) and the MPP has a policy area specialization in education policy whereas the MPA specialization would simply be Public Policy and then I suppose within that I would take classes focused on Education Policy. It just didn't make any sense to apply to the MPA program. I think it comes down to whether you're more interested in policy or management. In the end, you could probably take most of the same courses in either one, but the MPP also has the Policy Analysis Practicum which I think will be super beneficial. I wouldn't be worried about the size; 90 vs. 61 for the previous class. I think 61 sounds like a good size. You also have to assume less people are applying for the MPP, though I could be totally wrong on that one. Either way, with a smaller class size we'll get more individualized attention. If you are interested in policy analysis there's no reason you shouldn't apply to the MPP. Good luck with the decision, let me know what you decide!

I'm also wondering where the other applicants are at?? Maybe they're too busy perfecting their applications to have time to stalk these boards. I've submitted 4/6 apps so far: USC, Duke, Carnegie Mellon and UPenn. Waiting on a fee waiver from Michigan and have to deal with a 500 word personal statement for Syracuse when the rest have been 1,000 or 1,500. Not even totally sure about applying to Syracuse. Does anyone have anything good/bad to say about the Maxwell School? They don't get much air time around here so I don't have too much to go on. The main appeal was the fact that it was a 1-yr program and would save me some money but other than that...? How's the process going for everyone? I had one recommender who asked if she could skip the standard form and just send in the personal letter of recommendation because she felt she wasn't able to accurately judge me in that context. Bad sign???? ha. I'm currently in the Peace Corps and they literally have no idea what we do on a day to day basis so I'm slightly worried about her rec. Either way, she got all of them finished along with one of my other recommenders so I'm just waiting on one more! The last one should be a stellar rec but knowing how busy she is, they are sure to be submitted riiight under the wire. Eek! Hope everyone is hangin in there!

Thought I would chime in on this one! I took the GRE twice (July/August of this year) and on the August exam I had a reading comp that I had definitely seen before. For the life of me I couldn't remember if it had been on the July exam or on one of my practice exams but let me just say, it didn't help one GD bit that I had it again. I couldn't remember what the correct answers were (which leads me to believe it was either from the July exam where I obviously never got to see the correct answers or possibly, I had been careless in going over my mistakes in practice exams) so I obviously chose the same answers, for better or worse! So frustrating! I almost would have rather had a different reading comp because all I could think about while I was answering was, WTF I'VE HAD THIS BEFORE!!! Not sure if this is common, but figured I'd share my experience anyway!

They will definitely consider you with that background (especially SIPA)! With your strong gpa/work experience there's no reason not to apply. Your verbal score is great (what is that, 98/99th percentile?!) and while most of the top MPP programs look for a 700+ quant, that will only set you back slightly. Have you taken any math/statistics/econ courses? If so, those will definitely add to your application. If not, no worries. I would just focus your energy on the SOP at this point. And unless you have your heart set on HKS, I would scrap it since it's so late in the game. Go for GSPP and SIPA and maybe a few others. Are you looking to go into international or domestic policy? If international, what about Fletcher? There are plenty of other top schools that you should consider (Georgetown, Michigan, Chicago, GW, CMU, Duke, NYU...... the list goes on)! Don't sell yourself short. GOOD LUCK! P.S. Check out the government affairs section of gradcafe if you haven't already! http://forum.thegradcafe.com/forum/11-government-affairs/

Hello, all! Anyone out there looking to focus in domestic policy? I consistently see applicants who are interested in international policy/development but the domestic kids seem few and far between on this forum. When I first started thinking about applying to grad school seriously (a few years ago), I was planning on applying to international affairs programs. Having spent a year and a half working abroad, I've gotten my fill of international development ha. So my original list of the usuals: Fletcher, SIPA, SAIS, etc. have been completely scratched (of course I used them for my free GRE score reports, too! bummer). I'm now applying to more domestically-focused programs: Carnegie Mellon (DC Track), Michigan, Duke, UPenn, USC and Syracuse. I limited my list to schools which have fellowships with the Peace Corps (except Syracuse, whose year long program makes the total tuition comparable to the others, even with the fellowships). So as exciting as it would have been to apply to Harvard, Berkeley and Princeton, it didn't seem worth it (since my chances of getting in are almost non-existent and my chances of getting funding are absolutely non-existent)! Though the DC-Track at Carnegie is my top choice, I'll probably be inclined to go toward the $$, assuming I get offered any. I'd be interested to hear from any other domestic policy applicants and where you're planning on applying? Good luck to everyone out there!!

Thanks for the response! And I totally feel you. I have looked over my SOP and resume so much that at this point, unless I experience a major life-altering event that I could write about, I'll only be deleting commas and moving words around. Good luck to you!

Anyone have thoughts on submitting your applications early? Is there any benefit to getting your apps in long before the deadline? Do the adcomms start going through them immediately or do they wait until the specified deadline date? One of my applications specifically states that I can check the status of submitted docs (i.e. transcript/gre scores) AFTER I have submitted the app. It seems like it would behoove an applicant to send the apps in as early as possible so that they could make sure to take care of any issues with the mailed docs, just in case admissions didn't receive them for some reason. But then I think, if I send them in early, I might have a revelation about my life/goals/personal statement and it would be too late to change anything at that point. Eek! Any thoughts on this matter? Thanks in advance for any advice!! I am starting to get anxious about this whole thing and it's not even decision time. I am going to be a wreck come March! P.S. I am totally loving this forum and so glad I found it!

*Bump!* There must be some other applicants out there for the 2011 cycle! You know you want to post. Just do it already.

I can't figure out how to just edit my original post! Added the Maxwell School to my list. The considerable amount of money I'd be saving (as it's a 12-month program) was a huge factor. I'm not super keen on living in Syracuse (grew up 45 minutes away) but I figure I can handle it for a year. Anyone know the GPA/GRE stats of admitted students? Their website says "we like to see minimum GPA’s at or above a 3.0 (4.0 scale), minimum GRE test scores at the median (mid 500’s on both levels and 4.5 on the analytic)" which isn't very helpful. As one of the top programs in the country, I have to imagine the actual scores of admitted students are higher than that. Any info would be greatly appreciated!

This is probably a silly question but I'm going to ask it anyway. At what point in the application process should I send my GRE score reports? Do I need to wait until after I've submitted the application so that they already have a file on me? Or can I just send them now? Same question for my transcripts. Thanks in advance!

Okay, I might as well start us off! Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): MPP Schools Applied To: Carnegie-Mellon Heinz (DC or 3-semester track, still deciding), Michigan Ford, Duke Sanford, UPenn Fels, USC Policy, Planning and Development Schools Admitted To: Schools Rejected From: Still Waiting: Undergraduate institution: Large public research Undergraduate GPA: 3.84 Last 60 hours of Undergraduate GPA (if applicable): 3.9ish Undergraduate Major: Political Science (with a concentration in Public Law) and Psychology GRE Quantitative Score: 770 (87%) GRE Verbal Score: 620 (89%) GRE AW Score: 5 (84%) Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 4.5 (by Fall 2011) Years of Work Experience: 4.5 Describe Relevant Work Experience: Currently serving 2 years in the Peace Corps (finish next June) as a Tourism and Education Consultant in Panama; 2 1/2 years as a corporate paralegal at a large firm in NYC; Internship as a Criminal Investigator at the PD's office in D.C.; Multiple summer teaching jobs; Research Assistant for a book on International NGOs; Computer Technician throughout college Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): Still working it out but it's coming along. Mostly about my passion for education reform and social policy. It's not too exciting but I think it conveys what I want to do with my life pretty well. Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): Two professional, one from Peace Corps and one from the law firm I worked at (the latter is sure to be stellar, the Peace Corps one should be good though maybe not super detailed) and one academic from a professor that I did research for and also had class with, however it's going on 5 years since I was in school so I'm hoping the rec isn't too vague. He was the only professor I even sort of keeped in touch with. Other: I struggled on narrowing down my list of schools. I ended up only applying to schools that had fellowships through the Peace Corps (they aren't full fellowships, though, some are only 5-6 grand a year) but if I applied to Berkeley or Harvard, on the off chance I got into either (surely without any funding) I probably wouldn't be able to pass either of them up, but since $$ is my #1 priority, I thought it best to cut them out all together. Sigh. #1 choice is Carnegie-Mellon because of the DC-track (though I'm still up in the air about applying to the 3-semester track, 1 less semester of tuition?! wishing I could apply to both), then Michigan, then the other 3 would just depend on how much $ I get offered. Good luck to everyone!